Dealing with Distractions #IWSG

IWSG Question of the month: How do you deal with distractions when you are writing? Do they derail you? 

For me, the biggest distraction from writing is noise. Noisy neighbours, construction clanging and banging, angle grinders, people talking around me or to me.

My solution: Headphones and carefully curated playlists. 

When I write, I can't listen to music with lyrics. It has to be instrumental only. Often I'll pick music that matches the mood of the scene I'm writing. I have a huge playlist full of epic cinematic style music. James Paget, Michael Maas, Hans Zimmer, deadmau5, Steve Jablonsky. and some Thirty Seconds to Mars. To name a handful. Mostly big sounds. I also have a collection of softer music too, but my heart is with the big stuff.

How about you? What's your biggest distraction and how do you cope?

This post was written for the IWSG. Every first Wednesday of the month, members post on their blogs about their writing insecurities or offer some encouragement to others. If you are new to the IWSG or want to learn more, then please go HERE.

How to Wield the Power of the Syllable

Syllables are units of speech sound. They create the rhythm of words through changing tones and stresses. They are the musical notes.

As a writer, it’s important to understand the influence syllables have on words. The more syllables a word carries, the more complex the word becomes and this will impact the rhythm. For example: ‘Acknowledgement’ is not considered a ‘big word’ in terms of the percentage of the population knowing its meaning. It is, however, a complex word because it has four syllables. Words with many syllables will slow down the pace of our prose.

If we choose a word with many syllables over a word with few, then another result is often an emphasis on that word, especially if the majority of our prose is made up of simple words. For example: small (1 syllable), tiny (2 syllables), minuscule (3 syllables), infinitesimal (6 syllables – gasp). ‘Infinitesimal’ has a greater emphasis than small and is stronger than ‘very small’. As demonstrated, using syllables in this way will also lessen the temptation to use adverbs.

The emphasis is made even greater when we place a complex word in amongst simple words and vice versa. We should, of course, ask ourselves, ‘Do I want that emphasis?’

Part of the beauty of rhythms is their variance. It’s good to mix up the syllable count to gain flow to our text.

When choosing words, do you think about their syllable count? What are your thoughts about the more complex words? How often do you read your manuscripts aloud to hear the rhythms?

Note: This post is part of the A-Z Challenge. To learn more about the challenge click the image on my sidebar.

Reminder: I’ve entered my blog into the People’s Choice Award as part of the Sydney Writers’ Centre Best Australian Blogs Award 2011. If you haven’t already, please vote for my blog here. It is listed under W.I.P It: A Writer’s Journey -- Lynda Young.

Top Ten Countdown – Music that Inspires

Today I’m taking part in Alex J Cavanaugh’s Top Ten Countdown Music Blogfest. We are supposed to be listing our ten favourite songs of all time, but instead I will be listing the ten songs/albums that I listen to while I write. Below is the music that inspires me.

10. Hallelujah – Rufus Wainwright (from the Shrek Soundtrack). I’ve heard other versions, but I like this one the best. I don’t often listen to music with lyrics while I write but I’ve put a few in this list because of their inspirational value. This one can be a tad distracting, but I love it anyway.

9. Good Monsters – Jars of Clay. This is the only full album I’ve listed with lyrics. This makes great background music for writing because it broadens my imagination and helps to give my stories a life of their own.

8. Braveheart Soundtrack – London Symphony Orchestra. This soundtrack is not distracting and has enough power in the music that it helps me visualise scenes. Also good for sad scenes, particularly the main title.

7. Songs of Sanctuary – by Adiemus. This album is an old one but great for writing because it’s gentle. It has a tribal feel without being distracting.

6. Last of the Mohicans Soundtrack. Again, this makes great background music for writing. I particularly like “The Courier”.

5. Of These, Hope – Peter Gabriel. Amazing piece of music with a great beat and strength to it. I find this highly inspirational for my writing.

4. Bali –by Jalan Jalan. Favourite song on the album is “Lotus”. This album is soft. Great for writing quiet, thoughtful scenes. It also has a Malaysian note which makes me think of a cool breeze through the jungle.

3. Uprising – Muse. One of the few songs with lyrics that I’ll listen to while I write. It has a strong beat which is great for strong, angry or fast scenes.

2. Battlestar Galactica Soundtracks. Seasons 1-4. I think my favourite is “Storming New Caprica” from season 3. It’s great for writing fast scenes.

1. The Dark Knight Soundtrack. This is my current favourite music for writing. In particular I love “Like a Dog Chasing Cars”. It’s powerful, emotive and I see a hundred pictures in the music. I play this to death. I play this for any scene, but it works well for pivotal scenes.

What do you listen to when you write?

The Music of Our Words

Sometimes I’ll write a sentence and, even though it's technically correct, I know there is something wrong. The sentence doesn’t sing. The words lack any real power because the rhythm is off.

Every piece of prose we read carries a kind of music. Sometimes it’s a merry jaunt that makes the reader’s eyes dance across the page. Sometimes it’s a jittery staccato that makes the reader catch their breath. Sometimes it’s a harmonious flow of words that makes the reader float through the story.

Rhythm is connected to both the pace and the sound of the words. It can be found in the ebb and flow of your prose and it brings life, feeling and atmosphere into the story. Although the music is often subtle, it has a profound impact on the reader because it can trigger the reader’s emotion. This is the same reason soundtracks so successfully enhance movie imagery.

Because rhythm is sound, we must read our pieces out loud to tune our ears to the music. This way we’ll be able to hear how the rhythm of the sentences fit in with the music of the paragraph in the concert of the scene.

When you are writing and editing do you think about the music of your piece? What importance do you place on rhythm?

Contractions – Go with the Flow

Part of the real skill behind good writing is to make it look easy. And it looks easy when it flows off the tongue with a sweet sounding rhythm that’s effortless to understand. So what is one way we can achieve this flow?

We use contractions. A contraction is two words turned into one. For example: ‘can not’ becomes can’t; ‘do not’ becomes don’t; ‘you are’ becomes you’re.

Written contractions work because they reflect speech which is the most common way we communicate with each other. It’s a natural sound we hear every day and so we’re comfortable with the shortened rhythms. When we write like we speak, we give the reader a familiar ground to visit our stories. They aren’t distracted by the writing.

If we decide to write every word in full, then our writing begins to sound stilted. We force the readers to stumble or pause because it’s not a familiar rhythm. Because of this the piece often gains an air of pompousness.

If you don’t want a natural flow to your writing, or you want to achieve a certain level of formality, then go for it. The full words work well in any formal document. You could have a character who speaks without contractions, but they will sound robotic – much like Data in the Star Trek Next Gen series. Sometimes it works, but you’ll find mostly it doesn’t.

Do you use all the common contractions all of the time? Do you mix it up? Or do you think too many contractions make a piece too informal?

The Sound of Inspiration

Music is an incredible resource. I’ve already mentioned here that it can help us to fight distraction, but it can also be used as a source of inspiration.

I hear stories in music.

Sting’s Mad About You inspired me to write a 3000 word short story. The story had nothing to do with the song’s lyrics, but for some reason all I saw was a world of snow and ice and a man who didn’t belong there.

Depeche Mode’s Wrong and Muses’ Uprising also inspired me to write an adventure set on a cargo ship in space. Again, it wasn’t the words in the songs that inspired me. I rarely listen to the lyrics anyway. It was the mood the music created in me.

Music from Enya, Enigma, and anything Celtic or tribal make great standard back drops for my creative thoughts. I particularly like anything with a deep drum beat.

Soundtracks are also awesome sources of inspiration. It makes sense since they were originally designed to do to a movie as what I hope to do to my writing: evoke emotion. Some sample soundtracks I find helpful are The Last of the Mohicans, Braveheart, and Peter Gabriel’s Passion: Music for the Last Temptation of Christ. And I particularly love the music to a little known animation that never released a soundtrack. It took me ages to find just one song from it: Lotus by Jalan Jalan.

How about you? What’s your favourite writing music? Most of the music on my list I’ve shared with you is old. I haven’t updated my music in a long time so I’m looking for fresh sounds, particularly instrumental. Can you suggest anything more recent?

Writing and Music

Some see their writing as a creative expression and they cling to their freedom with the fierceness of a bulldog guarding its territory. Some see their writing as a vehicle to deliver their story and they stick to the rules like cement. But should we claim one approach is better than another? Would it be better to mix the two?

Writing and music are very similar things. Anyone can make music by taking random stabs at the piano keys. Anyone can write by stringing a few sentences together. But, to do them well, both crafts must be learned first. The rules must be understood. The skill of subtle nuances must be discovered and then practiced.

Both writing and music require a certain freedom to gain the magic of rhythm. Both feed on the almost mystical knowledge of timing to gain a mood.

It takes time to master both. A musician must play. A writer must write. Then the beautiful notes of a masterpiece begin to unfold. Confidence begins to sing out from your creations. The music then touches not only the ears, but it reaches down to the heart. The writing touches not only the mind, but it reaches down to the soul.

How much importance do you place on the creativity of writing versus learning the rules of writing?